Light-Emitting Diode Displays

ABSTRACT

A display may have an array of pixels. Display driver circuitry may supply data and control signals to the pixels. Each pixel may have seven transistors, a capacitor, and a light-emitting diode such as an organic light-emitting diode. The seven transistors may receive control signals using horizontal control lines. Each pixel may have first and second emission enable transistors that are coupled in series with a drive transistor and the light-emitting diode of that pixel. The first and second emission enable transistors may be coupled to a common control line or may be separately controlled so that on-bias stress can be effectively applied to the drive transistor. The display driver circuitry may have gate driver circuits that provide different gate line signals to different rows of pixels within the display. Different rows may also have different gate driver strengths and different supplemental gate line loading structures.

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/224,607,filed Dec. 18, 2018, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/919,057, filed Mar. 12, 2018, which is a continuation ofInternational Application PCT/US2017/022808, with an internationalfiling date of Mar. 16, 2017, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/314,281, filed Mar. 28, 2016, andU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/327,584, filed Apr. 26, 2016,which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

This relates generally to displays, and, more particularly, to displayswith pixels formed from light-emitting diodes.

Electronic devices often include displays. For example, cellulartelephones and portable computers include displays for presentinginformation to users.

Displays such as organic light-emitting diode displays have arrays ofpixels based on light-emitting diodes. In this type of display, eachpixel includes a light-emitting diode and thin-film transistors forcontrolling application of a signal to the light-emitting diode toproduce light. The thin-film transistors include drive transistors. Eachdrive transistor is coupled in series with a respective light-emittingdiode and controls current flow through that light-emitting diode.

The threshold voltages of the drive transistors in an organiclight-emitting diode display may vary due to operating history effects,which can lead to brightness nonuniformity. Brightness variations mayalso arise from control issues in displays with non-rectangular shapes.If care is not taken, effects such as these may adversely affect displayperformance

SUMMARY

A display may have an array of pixels. Display driver circuitry maysupply data and control signals to the pixels. Each pixel may have seventransistors, a capacitor, and a light-emitting diode such as an organiclight-emitting diode or may have other thin-film transistor circuitry.

The transistors of each pixel may receive control signals usinghorizontal control lines. Each pixel may have first and second emissionenable transistors that are coupled in series with a drive transistorand a light-emitting diode. The first and second emission enabletransistors may be coupled to a common horizontal control line or may beseparately controlled using separate control signals supplied overseparate horizontal control lines. When the emission enable transistorsof a pixel are individually controlled, on-bias stress can beeffectively applied to the drive transistor of that pixel, because thesource node of the drive transistor can be shorted to the positive powersupply terminal of the pixel rather than floating.

Not all of the rows in a display may have the same number of pixels andmay therefore be characterized by different amounts of capacitiveloading. To ensure brightness uniformity for the display, the displaydriver circuitry may have gate drive circuits that provide differentgate line signals to different rows of pixels within the display. Thisallows the display driver circuitry to generate row-location-dependentgate line signals to counteract variations in display brightness fromdifferent capacitive loading effects in different rows. Displays mayalso be provided with row-dependent supplemental gate line loadingstructures and/or gate drivers of different strengths in different rowsto smooth out brightness variations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic devicehaving a display in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative display in accordancewith an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an illustrative pixel circuit in accordance withan embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram showing operations involved in using a pixelcircuit of the type shown in FIG. 3 in a display in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an illustrative emission enable controlsignal and illustrative gate lines signals for controlling switchingtransistors in a pixel of the type shown in FIG. 3 in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an illustrative display that has a pixel-freenotch along its upper edge and that therefore has different capacitiveloading in different rows of the display in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of display driver circuitry of the type that may beused to provide different rows of pixels with different gate linesignals to counteract for different capacitive loading effects indifferent rows in accordance with an embodiment.

FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 each show first and second illustrative gate linesignals to be provided respectively to first and second sets of rows ina display that are characterized by respective first and seconddifferent capacitive loading effects in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of an illustrative pixel circuit havingindividually controlled emission enable transistors in accordance withan embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a timing diagram showing how on-bias stress can be applied tothe pixels in a display and showing how data writing operations may beperformed in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a graph showing how gate line loading may be adjusted as afunction of row position in a display to help minimize displaybrightness variations in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing how supplemental data line loadingstructures such as dummy pixel structures may be added to rows in adisplay to even out brightness variations in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing how different amounts of supplemental gateline loading structures may be added to rows in a display to even outbrightness variations in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing how gate line loading structures that arelocated in one row of a display may be used to increase gate lineloading in another row in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram of a portion of a display showing how row-dependentsupplemental gate line loading structures may be implemented byincreasing gate line width for short rows as a function of row positionin accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of a portion of a display showing how gate driverstrength may be varied as a function of row position in accordance withan embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a circuit diagram showing how capacitors may be coupled to agate line to add loading to the gate line in accordance with anembodiment.

FIGS. 20 and 21 are cross-sectional side views of illustrativecapacitors in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram of an illustrative row in a display with capacitorsfor providing gate line loading in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a diagram of an illustrative row in a display in which a gateline has been provided with a meandering path segment to adjust gateline loading in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram of an illustrative row in a display in which a gateline has been loaded with reduced-footprint non-emissive pixel circuitsthat serve as supplemental gate line loading structures in accordancewith an embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a diagram of an illustrative display with gate lines havingextensions that extend across an inactive area of the display past anotch in the display in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Electronic devices may be provided with displays. A schematic diagram ofan illustrative electronic device with a display is shown in FIG. 1.Device 10 of FIG. 1 may be a computing device such as a laptop computer,a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, acellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portableelectronic device, a smaller device such as a wrist-watch device (e.g.,a watch with a wrist strap), a pendant device, a headphone or earpiecedevice, a device embedded in eyeglasses or other equipment worn on auser's head, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, acomputer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a gamingdevice, a navigation device, an embedded system such as a system inwhich electronic equipment with a display is mounted in a kiosk orautomobile, equipment that implements the functionality of two or moreof these devices, or other electronic equipment.

As shown in FIG. 1, electronic device 10 may have control circuitry 16.Control circuitry 16 may include storage and processing circuitry forsupporting the operation of device 10. The storage and processingcircuitry may include storage such as hard disk drive storage,nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or otherelectrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solidstate drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamicrandom-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in control circuitry 16may be used to control the operation of device 10. The processingcircuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers,digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units,audio chips, application specific integrated circuits, etc.

Input-output circuitry in device 10 such as input-output devices 18 maybe used to allow data to be supplied to device 10 and to allow data tobe provided from device 10 to external devices. Input-output devices 18may include buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads,keyboards, microphones, speakers, tone generators, vibrators, cameras,sensors, light-emitting diodes and other status indicators, data ports,etc. A user can control the operation of device 10 by supplying commandsthrough input-output devices 18 and may receive status information andother output from device 10 using the output resources of input-outputdevices 18.

Input-output devices 18 may include one or more displays such as display14. Display 14 may be a touch screen display that includes a touchsensor for gathering touch input from a user or display 14 may beinsensitive to touch. A touch sensor for display 14 may be based on anarray of capacitive touch sensor electrodes, acoustic touch sensorstructures, resistive touch components, force-based touch sensorstructures, a light-based touch sensor, or other suitable touch sensorarrangements.

Control circuitry 16 may be used to run software on device 10 such asoperating system code and applications. During operation of device 10,the software running on control circuitry 16 may display images ondisplay 14.

Display 14 may be an organic light-emitting diode display, a displayformed from an array of discrete light-emitting diodes each formed froma crystalline semiconductor die, or any other suitable type of display.Configurations in which the pixels of display 14 include light-emittingdiodes are sometimes described herein as an example. This is, however,merely illustrative. Any suitable type of display may be used for device10, if desired.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an illustrative display. As shown in FIG. 2,display 14 may include layers such as substrate layer 26. Substratelayers such as layer 26 may be formed from rectangular planar layers ofmaterial or layers of material with other shapes (e.g., circular shapesor other shapes with one or more curved and/or straight edges). Thesubstrate layers of display 14 may include glass layers, polymer layers,composite films that include polymer and inorganic materials, metallicfoils, etc.

Display 14 may have an array of pixels 22 for displaying images for auser such as pixel array 28. Pixels 22 in array 28 may be arranged inrows and columns The edges of array 28 may be straight or curved (i.e.,each row of pixels 22 and/or each column of pixels 22 in array 28 mayhave the same length or may have a different length). There may be anysuitable number of rows and columns in array 28 (e.g., ten or more, onehundred or more, or one thousand or more, etc.). Display 14 may includepixels 22 of different colors. As an example, display 14 may include redpixels, green pixels, and blue pixels. If desired, a backlight unit mayprovide backlight illumination for display 14.

Display driver circuitry 20 may be used to control the operation ofpixels 22. Display driver circuitry 20 may be formed from integratedcircuits, thin-film transistor circuits, and/or other suitablecircuitry. Illustrative display driver circuitry 20 of FIG. 2 includesdisplay driver circuitry 20A and additional display driver circuitrysuch as gate driver circuitry 20B. Gate driver circuitry 20B may beformed along one or more edges of display 14. For example, gate drivercircuitry 20B may be arranged along the left and right sides of display14 as shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, display driver circuitry 20A (e.g., one or moredisplay driver integrated circuits, thin-film transistor circuitry,etc.) may contain communications circuitry for communicating with systemcontrol circuitry over signal path 24. Path 24 may be formed from traceson a flexible printed circuit or other cable. The control circuitry maybe located on one or more printed circuits in electronic device 10.During operation, the control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry 16 ofFIG. 1) may supply circuitry such as a display driver integrated circuitin circuitry 20 with image data for images to be displayed on display14. Display driver circuitry 20A of FIG. 2 is located at the top ofdisplay 14. This is merely illustrative. Display driver circuitry 20Amay be located along the bottom edge of display 14, at both the top andbottom of display 14, or in other portions of device 10.

To display the images on pixels 22, display driver circuitry 20A maysupply corresponding image data to data lines D while issuing controlsignals to supporting display driver circuitry such as gate drivercircuitry 20B over signal paths 30. With the illustrative arrangement ofFIG. 2, data lines D run vertically through display 14 and areassociated with respective columns of pixels 22.

Gate driver circuitry 20B (sometimes referred to as gate line drivercircuitry or horizontal control signal circuitry) may be implementedusing one or more integrated circuits and/or may be implemented usingthin-film transistor circuitry on substrate 26. Horizontal control linesG (sometimes referred to as gate lines, scan lines, emission controllines, etc.) run horizontally through display 14. Each gate line G isassociated with a respective row of pixels 22. If desired, there may bemultiple horizontal control lines such as gate lines G associated witheach row of pixels (e.g., a first gate line signal GI and a second gateline signal GW, one or more emission control signals, etc.).Individually controlled and/or global signal paths in display 14 mayalso be used to distribute other signals (e.g., power supply signals,etc.).

Gate driver circuitry 20B may assert control signals on the gate lines Gin display 14. For example, gate driver circuitry 20B may receive clocksignals and other control signals from circuitry 20A on paths 30 andmay, in response to the received signals, assert a gate line signal ongate lines G in sequence, starting with the gate line signal G in thefirst row of pixels 22 in array 28. As each gate line is asserted, datafrom data lines D may be loaded into a corresponding row of pixels. Inthis way, control circuitry such as display driver circuitry 20A and 20Bmay provide pixels 22 with signals that direct pixels 22 to display adesired image on display 14. Each pixel 22 may have a light-emittingdiode and circuitry (e.g., thin-film circuitry on substrate 26) thatresponds to the control and data signals from display driver circuitry20.

An illustrative pixel circuit of the type that may be used for eachpixel 22 in array 28 is shown in FIG. 3. In the example of FIG. 3, pixelcircuit 22 has seven transistors T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, and TD and onecapacitor Cst, so pixel circuit 22 may sometimes be referred to as a7T1C pixel circuit. Other numbers of transistors and capacitors may beused in pixels 22 if desired (e.g., fewer transistors, more transistors,more capacitors, etc.). The transistors may be p-channel transistors(e.g., p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors as shown in FIG.3) and/or may be n-channel transistors or other types of transistors.The active regions of thin-film transistors for pixel circuit 22 andother portions of display 14 may be formed from silicon (e.g.,polysilicon channel regions), semiconducting oxides (e.g., indiumgallium zinc oxide channel regions), or other suitable semiconductorthin-film layers.

As shown in FIG. 3, pixel circuit 22 includes light-emitting diode 44(e.g., an organic light-emitting diode, a crystallinemicro-light-emitting diode die, etc.). Light-emitting diode 44 may emitlight 46 in proportion to the amount of current I that is driven throughlight-emitting diode 44 by transistor TD. Transistor TD, transistor T4,transistor T5, and light-emitting diode 44 may be coupled in seriesbetween respective power supply terminals (see, e.g., positive powersupply terminal ELVDD and ground power supply terminal ELVSS).Transistor TD may have a source terminal coupled to node Nb, a drainterminal coupled to transistor T5, and a gate terminal coupled to nodeNa. The voltage on node Na at the gate of transistor TD controls theamount of current I that is produced by transistor TD. This current isdriven through light-emitting diode 44, so transistor TD may sometimesbe referred to as a drive transistor.

Transistors T4 and T5 can be turned off to interrupt current flowbetween transistor TD and diode 44 and transistors T4 and T5 may beturned on to enable current flow between transistor TD and diode 44.Emission enable control signal EM may be applied to the gates oftransistors T4 and T5 from a shared gate line. During operation,transistors T4 and T5 are controlled by emission enable control signalEM and are therefore sometimes referred to as emission transistors oremission enable transistors. Control signals GW and GI which maysometimes be referred to as switching transistor control signals, scansignals, or gate line signals (e.g., gate initialization and gate writesignals, gate signals, etc.), are applied to the gates of switchingtransistors T1, T2, T3, and T6 and control the operation of transistorsT1, T2, T3, and T6.

Control signals EM, GI, and GW may be controlled by display drivercircuitry 20 to place pixels 22 of display 14 in different states duringthe operation of display 14. During these different states, image datais loaded into pixels 22 and pixels 22 use light-emitting diodes 44 toemit light 46 in proportion to the loaded pixel data. To minimizethreshold voltage variations due to differences in transistor history(e.g., historical Vgs values), each of the pixels can be conditioned bydeliberately applying a known voltage stress to drive transistors TD(sometimes referred to as on-bias stress).

As an example, display driver circuitry 20 may use control signals EM,GI, and GW to place pixels 22 in a first mode of operation (see, e.g.,phase 60 of FIG. 4) before using pixels to emit light (in a second modeof operation such as phase 62 of FIG. 4). During operation, phases 60and 62 can repeatedly alternate.

During phase 60, which may sometimes be referred to as a preconditioningphase or an on-bias stress, data writing, and threshold voltagecompensation phase, on-bias stress may be applied to the drivetransistor TD of each pixel 22 and data (D) from the data line may beloaded onto capacitor Cst (node Na) of that pixel 22. During phase 62,which may sometimes be referred to as an emission phase, drivetransistor TD of each pixel 22 supplies drive current Ito light-emittingdiode 44 of that pixel, so that light-emitting diode 44 emits light 46.During phase 60, the data loaded onto capacitor Cst may be shifted fromVdata (the voltage on data line D) by an amount equal to the thresholdvoltage Vt of drive transistor TD, so that the drive current I oftransistor TD is independent of Vt during emission phase 62 (i.e., thepixel circuit of FIG. 3 may be used to implement an internal thresholdvoltage compensation scheme).

FIG. 5 shows illustrative signal traces for emission signal EM and gateline signals GI and GW of pixel 22 during phase 60.

As shown in FIG. 5, emission signal EM may be taken high at time t1 andheld high during phase 60, thereby turning off transistors T4 and T5 andpreventing current I from passing through light-emitting diode 44. WithEM high, gate line signal GI may be taken low at time t1. This turns ontransistor T3 and thereby places initialization voltage Vini (e.g., alow voltage signal such as −2 volts or other suitable voltage) onto nodeNa at the gate of drive transistor TD (i.e., a known on-bias stress isapplied to drive transistor TD to precondition transistor TD and therebyhelp minimize threshold voltage variations in threshold voltage Vt oftransistor TD due to the operating history of transistor TD). TransistorT3 may then be turned off at time t2 by taking signal GI high. At timet3, gate line signal GW may be taken low. This turns on transistors T1,T2, and TD, so that data (Vdata) from data line D is loaded onto node Navia path 64. If desired, the process of taking signals GI and GW low maybe repeated (e.g., three times as shown in FIG. 5 or other suitablenumber of times) to help precondition transistor TD and satisfactorilyload Vdata onto node Na.

In configurations for device 10 in which display 14 has the same numberof pixels 22 in each row of display 14, the capacitive loading on thegate lines of display 14 will be relatively even across all of the rowsof display 14. In other configurations for display 14 such as theillustrative configuration of FIG. 6, different rows of display 14 maycontain different numbers of pixels 22. This may give rise to arow-dependent capacitive loading on the gate lines (e.g., the gate linescarrying signals such as signals GI and GW) that can affect thepreconditioning operations and the data loaded onto node Na andtherefore the resulting brightness of light 46 in the pixels 22 of eachrow.

In the illustrative arrangement of FIG. 6, display 14 has a rectangularshape with four curved corners and a recess (i.e., pixel-free notchedregion 66). The notch interrupts the rows of pixels 22 and creates shortrows having fewer pixels than the normal-length rows that span the widthof the substrate of display 14. Due to the curved corners of display 14,each row in the top and bottom edge of display 14 will have a slightlydifferent amount of capacitive loading. Due to the gradually curvedshape of the peripheral edge of display 14 at the top and bottom edgesof display 14, the row-to-row change in the number of pixels 22 thatload the gate lines will be gradual in these regions. As a result,luminance variations due to changes in row length (and therefore pixelcount) between adjacent rows will be minimal and not noticeable to aviewer of display 14.

More abrupt shape changes such as the changes in display 14 due to notch66 will introduce more significant changes in pixel loading on the gatelines. Rows such as row RM+1 . . . RN in display 14 of FIG. 6 have pixelcounts that are equal (or, in the case of the rows at near the bottomedge of display 14, are nearly equal) to each other. Rows such as rowsR0 . . . RM will have pixel counts that are less than half of the pixelcounts of rows RM+1 . . . RN. This is because each gate line in rows R0. . . RM will only extend to the left or right boundary of region 66 andwill not be able to traverse region 66.

Because the gate lines in area A of display 14 (i.e., the gate lines ofrows R0 . . . RM in the top edge of display 14 adjacent to region 66)and the gate lines in area B of display 14 (i.e., the gate lines of rowsRM+1 . . . RN) experience different amounts of loading in the example ofFIG. 6, there is a risk that pixels 22 in areas A and B will be loadedwith different voltages on their storage capacitors Cst, even in thepresence of identical Vdata values on their data lines. To compensatefor these row-dependent gate line loading effects, display drivercircuitry 20 can create gate line signals G that vary as a function ofrow. For example, display driver circuitry 20 can produce gate linesignals for the rows in area A that have shorter pulse widths than thegate lines signals for the rows in area B. The gate line signals withshorter pulse widths that are used in area A will then load the pixelsin area A in the same way that the gate line signals with longer pulsewidths that are used in area B will load the pixels in area B.

Illustrative display driver circuitry for providing the rows of pixels22 in area A with different gate signals than the rows of pixels 22 inarea B is shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 7, display driver circuitry20A (e.g., an integrated circuit, thin-film transistor circuitry, etc.)may include clock generators such as clock generators 70 and 72 thatproduce different clock signals (e.g., clock signals that different inpulse width, pulse slew rate, and/or other attributes). These signalsmay be provided to the clock inputs of gate driver circuits 78 of gatedriver circuitry 20B via multiplexer 74 and clock distribution path 76.The output G of each gate driver circuit 78 may be provided to asubsequent gate driver circuit 78 to form a shift register. In theexample of FIG. 7, each gate driver circuit produces a gate signal for arespective row of pixels 22. If desired, circuitry 20B may producemultiple gate line output signals (e.g., signals GI and GW) for eachrow. The shift register formed from circuits 78 allows a gate linesignal (or gate line signals when each circuit 78 has multiple outputscorresponding to multiple gate lines in each row) to be asserted in eachrow of display 14 in sequence.

The clock signals from line 76 are distributed to the clock inputs ofeach gate driver circuit 78, which then use these clocks in producingcorresponding output signals G. The shape of the clock signal on line 76when a given gate line signal is being produced can be used to controlthe shape of the given gate line signal. In particular, clock signalattributes (e.g., pulse width) for the clock signals on line 76 affectgate line signal attributes (e.g., pulse width), so changes to clocksignals on path 76 can be used in controlling gate line signals G.

When it is desired to supply a first type of clock signal to gate drivercircuits 78 of gate driver circuitry 20B (e.g., when producing gate linesignals for the pixels in area A), display driver circuitry 20A mayconfigure multiplexer 74 so that output CLKA of clock generator 70 isrouted to gate driver circuits 78 in circuitry 20A via path 76. When itis desired to supply a second type of clock signal to gate drivercircuits 78 of gate driver circuitry 20B (e.g., when producing gate linesignals for the pixels in area B), display driver circuitry 20A mayconfigure multiplexer 74 so that output CLKB of clock generator 72 isrouted to gate driver circuits 78 in circuitry 20A via path 76. Duringeach frame of image data, multiplexer 74 may be placed in its firststate (coupling clock generator 70 to path 76) during the rows of area Aand may be placed in its second state (coupling clock generator 72 topath 76) during the rows of area B.

FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 show illustrative signals CLKB and CLKA of the typethat may be provided to respective areas B and A to reduce luminancevariations between areas B and A. In the example of FIG. 8, the slewrate of clocks CLKB and CLKA are different. There is a parasiticcapacitance between the gate of transistor T2 and node Na that allowsfaster slew rate signals such as the CLKB signal to pass more data fromdata line D onto node Na than slower slew rate signals such as the CLKAsignal. By using faster slew rate signal CLKB in region B (where gatelines are more heavily loaded by pixels 22) and using slower slew ratesignal CLKA in region A (where gate lines are less heavily loaded bypixels 22), data signals Vdata will be uniformly loaded onto nodes Na inregions A and B, thereby reducing undesired pixel brightness variationsbetween regions A and B. In the example of FIG. 9, the pulse width(pulse duration) of signal CLKA is smaller than the pulse width (pulseduration) of signal CLKB. The longer pulse width of CLKB, which is usedin region B, helps compensate for the additional loading on the gatelines in the rows of pixels in region B. In the example of FIG. 10,clock signals CLKA have a two-step profile that provides the pulses ofCLKA with a shorter pulse shape and slower slew rate than CLKB (whichhas a one-step profile) to help compensate for the additional loading onthe gate lines in the rows of pixels in region B relative to region A.The examples of FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 are examples of signal profiles thatmay be used for clocks CLKA and CLKB (and therefore the gate linesignals G that are supplied to pixels 22 in respective areas A and B ofdisplay 14). Other types of signals and other combinations of signalsCLKA and CLKB may be used, if desired.

To enhance the effectiveness of the application of the known on-biasstress to drive transistor TD, it may be desirable to separate emissionsignal EM into two respective independently controlled emission signalsEM1 and EM2, as shown in the illustrative pixel circuit for pixel 22 ofFIG. 11. In the example of FIG. 11, emission control signal (emissionenable signal) EM2 is used in controlling emission transistor T4 andemission control signal (emission enable signal) EM1 is used incontrolling emission transistor T5. In arrangements of the type shown bypixel circuit 22 of FIG. 3, emission signal EM is high during on-biasstress operations in which voltage Vini is being driven onto node Na viatransistor T3. Because EM is high, transistor T4 of FIG. 3 is off duringthe on-bias stress operations of phase 60 and the voltage on node Nb atthe source of transistor TD of FIG. 3 can float and thereby reduce theVgs voltage across drive transistor TD. In contrast, signal EM2 of FIG.11 may be held low during on-bias stress operations to turn transistorT4 on and thereby hold node Nb (the source of transistor TD) high atpositive power supply voltage ELVDD to effectively apply a largegate-source voltage Vgs to drive transistor TD. This is shown in FIG.12, which shows how EM1 is high and EM2 is low when GI is taken lowduring on-bias stress phase.

If desired, display driver circuitry 20 may supply row-dependent gateline signals to pixels 22 to reduce row-to-row luminance variation in adisplay whose pixels have commonly controlled emission controltransistors (see, e.g., pixels 22 of FIG. 3) or whose pixels haveindependently controlled emission transistors.

The amount of charge (signal Vdata) that is loaded onto node Na of eachpixel 22 from data line D is dependent on the characteristics of thegate line signals for that pixel. During data loading operations, gateline signal GW (i.e., the third GW pulse in FIG. 5) is asserted (takenlow in the example of FIG. 5) to load data from data line D onto node Nathrough transistors T1, TD, and T2. Due to the parasitic capacitance(Cgs) of transistor T3 of FIG. 3, signals GW with faster slew rates andlonger pulse durations tend to load more of voltage Vdata onto node Nathan signals GW with slower slew rates and shorter durations.

Gate line loading affects the shape of the gate line pulses on the gatelines and can therefore affect pixel brightness. Gate lines with largeramounts of gate line loading will tend to be dimmer than gate lines withsmaller amounts of gate line loading. Rows in display 14 can be providedwith different amounts of gate line loading to help reduce brightnessvariations. These gate line loading adjustments may made in addition toand/or instead of using techniques in which the shape of the gate linepluses that are provided to the rows of pixels in display 14 areadjusted to reduce row dependent brightness variations as described inconnection with FIGS. 8, 9, and 10. As an example, shorter rows thathave fewer pixels can be provided with supplemental loads (sometimesreferred to as dummy loads or supplemental gate line loading structures)to help make those rows behave similarly to or identically to longerrows in the display.

A graph illustrating the impact of various loading schemes that may beused to help smooth out brightness variations in a display having rowsof pixels of unequal lengths (different numbers of pixels) is shown inFIG. 13. In the example of FIG. 13, gate line loading (LOAD) has beenplotted as a function of row number (e.g., for the upper portion ofdisplay 14 starting at row RO of FIG. 6). Solid line 90 corresponds to adisplay of the type shown in FIG. 6 without any supplemental loadingstructures. Rows less than row RM (i.e., rows in area A of FIG. 6)experience gradually increasing amounts of loading. After row RM (i.e.,in area B), loading reaches load value LM. With an uncompensated displayconfiguration (solid line 90), there may be a relatively sharpdiscontinuity (loading difference DLM) in the amount of loadingexperience by the gate lines of respective rows RM and row RM+1. Thisdiscontinuity can lead to a noticeable variation between the brightnessof the pixels in row RM and the brightness of the pixels in row RM+1.For example, if the load varies by more than 10% between successiverows, the brightness of the pixels in the successive rows may vary bymore than 10% or other visible amount.

Brightness variations such as these can be smoothed out by addingsupplemental gate line loading structures to appropriate rows of display14 (e.g., those rows that would otherwise be underloaded due to a lackof pixels on the gate lines of those rows). For example, brightnessvariations between a first area of the display in which gate lines arecoupled to a given number of pixels and a second area of the display inwhich gate lines are coupled to fewer than the given number of pixelscan be reduced to less than a 10% brightness variation, less than a 20%brightness variation, a brightness variation that is less than 50%, lessthan 15%, less than 5%, less than 2%, less than 1%, or less than othersuitable brightness variation values). With one illustrativearrangement, which is illustrated by line 92, gate line loading issmoothed out by adding supplemental loads to the gate lines of rows 98.If desired, further smoothing may be achieved (e.g., by adding varyingamounts of load to each of the gate lines of rows RO through RM, asillustrate by line 94). If desired, gate lines in rows R0-RM may becompensated by adding sufficient supplemental gate line loading toequalize the loading on the gate lines of all of the rows in display 14(see, e.g., illustrative loading line 96 of FIG. 13). In general, anysuitable amount of supplemental loading may be added to appropriate rowsof display 14. Supplemental loads may be significant (e.g., tocompletely equalize loading for all rows as illustrated by line 96), maybe moderate (e.g., to smooth loading as shown by line 94), or may berelatively small (e.g., to help smooth out the load discontinuity atrows RM/RM+1 by adding loading to a relatively modest number of rows(e.g., rows 98), as illustrated by line 92. Any of these schemes mayalso be combined with row-dependent gate signal shaping schemes of thetypes described in connection with FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 and/or otherdisplay brightness smoothing arrangements (which may also extend overany suitable number of rows in display 14 to help smooth out brightnessdiscontinuities).

Illustrative arrangements for adding supplemental loads to the gatelines of appropriate rows of display 14 are shown in FIGS. 14-25.

As shown in the illustrative configuration of FIG. 14, selected gatelines G (e.g., gate lines GI and/or GW of FIG. 3 or other suitable gatelines) may be provided with extended portions such as gate lineextensions GE that are coupled to supplemental loading structures(supplemental gate line loading structures) such as dummy pixels 22D.Display 14 of FIG. 14 has a notch or other pixel-free area such aspixel-free notch 66. Display 14 may have one or more substrate layerssuch as substrate 102. Substrate 102 may have an edge such as edge 104.Edge 104 may be straight or curved (as in the example of FIG. 14). Anarrow border portion of substrate 102 adjacent to the display notch(i.e., inactive area IA) is free of pixels 22, but may containsupplemental gate line loading structures such as dummy pixels 22D. InFIG. 14, inactive area IA is separated from active area AA (whichcontains active pixels 22) by dashed line 100. To ensure that dummypixels 22D do not encroach too far into inactive area IA (i.e., toensure that dummy pixels 22D are not too close to edge 104 of substrate102), the layout of dummy pixels 22D may accommodate curved edge 104. Tosmoothly transition between the large amount of loading experienced bygate lines G in rows RM+1 (sometimes referred to as long rows) and thesmaller amount of loading experienced by gate lines G in rows R0-RM(sometimes referred to as short rows), a relatively large amount ofsupplemental loading may be supplied in row RM (e.g., four dummy pixels22D in the FIG. 14 example) and progressively smaller amounts ofsupplemental loading may be supplied in rows that are progressivelyfarther from row RM (e.g., two supplemental dummy pixels 22D may becoupled to a gate line in row RM-1 in the FIG. 14 example, etc.). In theillustrative configuration of FIG. 14, only two rows (RM and RM-1 havebeen supplied with supplemental loading, but, in general, any suitablenumber of rows may be supplied with supplemental loading (e.g., 2-20rows, 2-100 rows, 50-1000 rows, more than 25 rows, fewer than 2000 rows,etc.). Any suitable number of dummy pixels 22D (e.g., 1-1000, more than10, fewer than 500, etc.) may be coupled to the gate line GW in each rowof display 14 (see, e.g., gate line GW of FIG. 3) and/or may be coupledto other suitable horizontal control lines in display 14 to reducerow-dependent brightness variations.

Dummy pixels 22D may contain all of the pixel circuitry of regularpixels 22 with small but critical modifications that prevent thesepixels from emitting light. Examples of modifications that may be madeto convert active pixels 22 into dummy pixels 22D include: omitting theemissive material of pixels 22 from pixels 22D, omitting the anodes ofpixels 22D, omitting small portions of metal traces coupling thethin-film transistor circuitry in pixels 22D to the light-emittingdiodes in pixels 22D to create open circuits, etc. The footprint(outline when viewed from above) of each of pixels 22D of FIG. 14 may bethe same as the footprint of each of pixels 22.

If desired, supplemental loading structures formed from capacitors maybe used. This type of arrangement is shown in FIG. 15. In the example ofFIG. 15, supplemental loads 22LD have been provided in rows k and k+1 tohelp smooth out a loading discontinuity between rows k+1 and k+2. Thecircuit diagram in FIG. 15 shows how gate line signals on gate lines GIand GW may be produced by the same gate drivers in gate driver circuitry20B. For example, gate line signal GI(k+1) may be produced by couplingthe GI line in row k+1 to the output of the gate driver 20B-D for gateline GW in row k (i.e., GI(k+1)=GW(k)). Supplemental gate line loadingstructures (supplemental gate line loads) 22LD may be coupled to bothgate line GI and to gate line GW in each row or may, as shown in FIG.15, be coupled to only a single gate line (i.e., gate line GW) in eachrow to reduce the area consumed by the gate lines extensions GE.

In the example of FIG. 15, each supplemental load 22LD is located in thesame row as the gate line to which it is coupled. If desired, gate lineextensions GE may have bent portions such as portions GE′ of FIG. 16that span multiple rows. This allows some of the loading structures tobe located in rows other than the gate lines to which they are coupled.In the arrangement of FIG. 16, for example, supplemental loadingstructure 22LD′ is located in row RM, but is coupled to gate line GW inrow RM-2 using gate line extension GE. This type of arrangement may beused to help optimize the placement of supplemental loading structures(e.g., so that more supplemental loading structures may be incorporatedinto border IA without locating these structures too close to substrateedge 104 or excessively increasing the size of border IA).

Illustrative display 14 of FIG. 17 includes gate lines of differentwidths in different rows. Long row RM+1 has a normally sized gate line G(i.e., a gate line of width W2). Short rows may be provided withappropriately enlarged gate lines to enhance loading. For example, asupplemental loading structure may be formed for row RM by increasingthe width of gate line G in row RM to a value W1 that is larger than W2.The additional capacitance provided by enhancing the width of gate lineG allows the additional width to serve as a supplemental gate lineloading structure.

FIG. 18 shows how gate drivers such as gate drivers 20B-D may be variedin strength to compensate for rows with different numbers of pixels. Forexample, output buffers (gate drivers) 20B-D in normal (long) rows suchas row RM+1 may have transistors of normal sizes so that the outputbuffers drive gate lines signals onto gate lines G with normal strength,whereas output buffers 20B-D in short rows such as row RM may havereduced strengths (e.g., transistors that are smaller and thereforeweaker than the transistors in the gate drivers of the long rows).Row-dependent gate driver strength adjustments may be made incombination with one or more other brightness discontinuity smoothingarrangements (e.g., supplemental loading structures, gate line signalslew rate modifications, etc.).

FIG. 19 is a circuit diagram of an illustrative supplemental loadingstructure formed from two capacitors C coupled between in parallelbetween gate line G and ground line GND. Ground line GND may be formedfrom a ground power supply line (e.g., ELVSS), from a gate driver ground(e.g., VGL), or other suitable signal path. Capacitors C of FIG. 19 maybe formed from structures of the type shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 (asexamples).

In the example of FIG. 20, capacitor C has first electrode 110 andsecond electrode 112 separated by dielectric 114. Dielectric 114 may beformed from one or more layers of inorganic and/or organic dielectricmaterial in display 14. Electrodes 110 and 112 may be formed from metallayers, conductive semiconductor layers (e.g., doped polysilicon, etc.),or other conductive layers. For example, electrodes 110 and 112 may beformed from conductive layers such as a first gate metal layer, secondgate metal layer, source-drain metal layer, silicon layer, or othersuitable conductive layers in the thin-film transistor circuitry ofdisplay 14. In particular, electrode 110 may be an upper electrodeformed from a second gate metal layer and electrode 112 may be a lowerelectrode formed from a first gate metal layer, upper electrode 110 maybe formed from a source-drain metal layer and lower electrode 112 may beformed from a second gate metal layer, or upper electrode 110 may beformed from a first gate metal layer or a source-drain metal layer andlower electrode 112 may be formed from a doped polysilicon layer orother doped semiconductor layer.

In the illustrative configuration of FIG. 21, a first electrode forcapacitor C is formed from upper layer 116A and lower layer 116B, whichare shorted together. A second electrode for capacitor C of FIG. 21 isformed from conductive layer 118. Dielectric 114 may separate the firstand second electrodes. Electrode layer 116A may be formed from asource-drain metal layer and electrode layer 116B may be formed from aconductive layer such as a doped semiconductor layer (e.g., a dopedpolysilicon layer). Electrode 118 may be formed from a gate metal layer(e.g., a first gate metal layer in a configuration in which display 14has multiple gate metal layers).

Other capacitor arrangements may be used, if desired. The illustrativecapacitor structures of FIGS. 20 and 21 are merely illustrative.Capacitors C may be formed from individual capacitor electrodes that arecoupled together using signal lines (e.g., gate lines and ground line).Different numbers of capacitors may be added or removed from each row toadjust how much supplemental gate line loading is provided or each rowof display 14 may have a single undivided capacitor structure forsupplemental loading. The use of multiple smaller capacitors that arecoupled together by signal lines (e.g., gate lines and ground lines) mayhelp reduce the risk of damage from electrostatic discharge eventsduring manufacturing (e.g., by reducing the amount of charge stored inany given capacitor).

FIG. 22 shows a row of display 14 in an illustrative configuration inwhich supplemental loading structure 22D has been formed from multiplecapacitors C (e.g., capacitors of the type shown in FIG. 20 and/or 21)coupled to gate line G and coupled to an associated ground line GND.

FIG. 23 shows how the resistance of gate line G in gate line extensionGE can be adjusted by providing a portion of gate line extensions GEsuch as portion 122 with a meandering path shape. Gate line extension Gmay be coupled to a supplemental load such as loading structures 22Dformed from one or more capacitors C or other loading structures.Adjustments to the resistance of line portion GE may help adjust theloading effects imposed on gate line G (i.e., the meandering path may beconsidered to form part of the supplemental gate line loading structuresin a row).

FIG. 24 shows how supplemental loading structures 22D may be formed fromsmall pixel-like dummy pixel circuits. These circuits may include someof the same transistors, capacitors, signal traces, and other thin-filmcircuitry of normal pixels 22, but have smaller footprints because someof the components of pixels 22 have been omitted. The omission of one ormore pixel components from pixels 22 allows the footprint of the dummypixel circuits to be reduced and renders the dummy pixel circuitsincapable of emitting light. At the same time, the amount of loadingimposed on gate lines G may be the same or nearly the same as thatimposed by normal pixels 22. An example of a pixel component that may beremoved from pixels 22 to form reduced-size (compressed) dummy pixelcircuits for supplemental loading structures 22D of FIG. 24 is the anodeof light-emitting diode 44 (which normally consumes a relatively largeamount of pixel area). To reduce the size of the dummy pixel circuitrelative to a normal pixel 22, the layout of the pixel circuit may beshrunken after the anode is removed. In contrast, dummy pixels 22D ofthe type shown in FIG. 14 may have the same footprint as pixels 22.

If desired, each of the gate lines in area A may have a pixel-freeportion (gate line extension portion) that extends past the notch indisplay 14 and that helps increase loading for that gate line. As shownin FIG. 25, for example, gate line extensions GE may be extendedsufficiently to allow each of the gate lines in the short rows to spanthe width of display 14 (i.e., the substrate of display 14) even thoughthe short rows contain fewer pixels than the long rows due to thepresence of notch 66. Gate line extensions GE of FIG. 25 may imposesufficient loading on the short rows of display 14 to partly orcompletely obviate the need for additional supplemental gate lineloading structures and/or gate signal slew rate modifications, gatedriver circuit modifications, etc.

In the illustrative configuration of FIG. 25, gate driver circuitry 20Bincludes gate drivers 20B-D coupled to both the left and right ends ofgate lines G. In the long rows of display 14 (i.e., in area B), the useof drivers on both the left and right ends of each gate line can helpensure satisfactory data loading. In short rows (i.e., in area A), bothleft and right drivers may not be needed and one of these drivers may beomitted to help reduce display brightness variations. With this type ofarrangement, some or all of gate drivers 20B-D along one of the edges ofdisplay 14 (e.g., the right-hand edge of FIG. 25) may be omitted fromthe short rows of display 14 so that some or all of the short rows maybe driven by gate drivers coupled to only one gate line end (e.g., theleft end of gate lines G), whereas all of the long rows may be driven bygate drivers coupled to both opposing ends of gate lines G (e.g., to theleft and right ends of each gate line G). Configurations of this type(in which the number of gate drivers coupled to each gate line is variedbetween different rows) may be combined with one or more otherarrangements for smoothing out display brightness variations(row-dependent gate line signal slew rate variations, row-dependent gatedriver strengths, row-dependent supplemental loading variations, etc.).

In accordance with an embodiment, a display is provided that includesdisplay driver circuitry, data lines coupled to the display drivercircuitry, gate lines coupled to the display driver circuitry, and anarray of pixels having columns and rows, the rows in a first area of thedisplay are shorter than the rows in a second area of the display andthe display driver circuitry is configured to provide gate line signalson the gate lines of the rows in the first and second areas that aredifferent.

In accordance with another embodiment, the display driver circuitryincludes a first clock generator that generates a first clock signal anda second clock generator that generates a second clock signal.

In accordance with another embodiment, the display driver circuitryincludes a multiplexer having a first input that receives the firstclock signal, a second input that receives the second clock signal, andan output coupled to a clock path.

In accordance with another embodiment, the display driver circuitryincludes gate driver circuitry having gate driver circuits in each ofthe rows, the gate driver circuits receive signals over the clock path.

In accordance with another embodiment, the first area has a pixel-freenotch and the display driver circuitry is configured to direct themultiplexer to supply the first clock signal to the gate driver circuitsin the rows of the first area and to supply the second clock signal tothe gate driver circuits in the rows of the second area.

In accordance with another embodiment, the first clock signal andcorresponding gate line signals produced by the gate driver circuits inthe rows of the first area have a slower slew rate than the second clocksignal and corresponding gate line signals produced by the gate drivercircuits in the rows of the second area.

In accordance with another embodiment, the first clock signal andcorresponding gate line signals produced by the gate driver circuits inthe rows of the first area have a shorter pulse duration than the secondclock signal and corresponding gate line signals produced by the gatedriver circuits in the rows of the second area.

In accordance with another embodiment, the first clock signal andcorresponding gate line signals produced by the gate driver circuits inthe rows of the first area have a two-step profile and the second clocksignal and corresponding gate line signals produced by the gate drivercircuits in the rows of the second area have a one-step profile.

In accordance with another embodiment, each pixel has seven transistorsand one capacitor.

In accordance with another embodiment, the seven transistors in eachpixel include a drive transistor and first and second emissiontransistors coupled in series with an organic light-emitting diodebetween first and second power supply terminals.

In accordance with another embodiment, the display includes in each row,a first emission control line that passes a first emission controlsignal to the pixels of that row from the display driver circuitry and asecond emission control line that passes a second emission controlsignal to the pixels of that row from the display driver circuitry.

In accordance with another embodiment, each pixel has seven transistorsand one capacitor.

In accordance with another embodiment, the seven transistors in eachpixel include a drive transistor and first and second emissiontransistors coupled in series with an organic light-emitting diodebetween first and second power supply terminals.

In accordance with another embodiment, the first emission line in eachrow is coupled to the first emission transistor of each pixel in thatrow and the second emission line in each row is coupled to the secondemission transistor of each pixel in that row.

In accordance with an embodiment, a display is provided that includesdisplay driver circuitry, data lines coupled to the display drivercircuitry, gate lines coupled to the display driver circuitry, an arrayof pixels having columns and rows, each pixel has seven transistors andone capacitor, the seven transistors in each pixel include a drivetransistor and first and second emission transistors coupled in serieswith an organic light-emitting diode between first and second powersupply terminals, and in each row, a first emission control line thatpasses a first emission control signal to the pixels of that row fromthe display driver circuitry and a second emission control line thatpasses a second emission control signal to the pixels of that row fromthe display driver circuitry.

In accordance with another embodiment, the first emission line in eachrow is coupled to the first emission transistor of each pixel in thatrow and the second emission line in each row is coupled to the secondemission transistor of each pixel in that row.

In accordance with an embodiment, a display is provided that includesdisplay driver circuitry, data lines coupled to the display drivercircuitry, gate lines coupled to the display driver circuitry, an arrayof pixels having columns and rows, each pixel has at least sevenp-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors and at least onecapacitor, the transistors in each pixel include a drive transistor andfirst and second emission transistors coupled in series with an organiclight-emitting diode between first and second power supply terminals, afirst emission control line in each row that passes a first emissioncontrol signal to the pixels of that row from the display drivercircuitry, a second emission control line in each row that passes asecond emission control signal to the pixels of that row from thedisplay driver circuitry, and first and second gate lines in each rowthat control at least first and second switching transistors in thetransistors of each pixel in that row.

In accordance with another embodiment, the display driver circuitryincludes a first clock generator that generates a first clock signal anda second clock generator that generates a second clock signal andincludes a multiplexer having a first input that receives the firstclock signal, a second input that receives the second clock signal andan output coupled to a clock path.

In accordance with another embodiment, the first emission line in eachrow is coupled to the first emission transistor of each pixel in thatrow and the second emission line in each row is coupled to the secondemission transistor of each pixel in that row.

In accordance with another embodiment, the display driver circuitryincludes a gate driver circuit in each of the rows that receive signalsover the clock path.

In accordance with an embodiment, a display is provided that includesdisplay driver circuitry, data lines coupled to the display drivercircuitry, gate lines coupled to the display driver circuitry, an arrayof pixels having rows and columns, the gate lines of rows in a firstarea of the display are coupled to fewer of the pixels in the array ofpixels than the rows in a second area of the display, and supplementalgate line loading structures that are coupled to at least some of thegate lines in the first area to increase loading on those gate lines andthereby smooth out display brightness variations between the first andsecond areas of the display.

In accordance with another embodiment, the supplemental gate lineloading structures include dummy pixels that do not emit light.

In accordance with another embodiment, the dummy pixels do not containemissive material for light-emitting diodes.

In accordance with another embodiment, the supplemental gate lineloading structures include capacitors.

In accordance with another embodiment, a first of the rows in the firstarea is coupled to a supplemental gate line loading structure in asecond of the rows of the first area.

In accordance with another embodiment, the pixels of the first of therows are associated with a given one of the gate lines and the given oneof the gate lines has a gate line extension that extends from the firstof the rows to the second of the rows.

In accordance with another embodiment, the supplemental gate lineloading structures impose progressively decreasing amounts of loading onthe gate lines of the first area at progressively increasing distancesfrom the second area into the first area.

In accordance with an embodiment, an organic light-emitting diodedisplay is provided that includes a substrate with a notch, organiclight-emitting diode pixels on the substrate, display driver circuitry,data lines coupled to the display driver circuitry and the organiclight-emitting diode pixels, gate lines coupled to the display drivercircuitry and the organic light-emitting diode pixels, the organiclight-emitting diode pixels are arranged in columns and rows, the rowsin a first area of the display that includes the notch are coupled tofewer of the pixels than the rows in a second area of the display, andsupplemental gate line loading structures that are coupled to at least aportion of the gate lines in the first area to increase gate lineloading on those gate lines and thereby reduce differences in gate lineloading between the gate lines in the first and second areas.

In accordance with another embodiment, the supplemental gate lineloading structures include capacitors coupled to the gate lines in theportion of the gate lines.

In accordance with another embodiment, each gate line in the portion ofthe gate lines is coupled to a plurality of the capacitors.

In accordance with another embodiment, each of the capacitors has anupper electrode and a lower electrode.

In accordance with another embodiment, each of the capacitors has afirst conductive layer, a second conductive layer, and a thirdconductive layer, the first and third conductive layers are shortedtogether and form a first capacitor electrode and the second conductivelayer is interposed between the first and third conductive layers andforms a second capacitor electrode.

In accordance with another embodiment, the supplemental gate lineloading structures apply different amounts of capacitance to differentgate lines in the first area.

In accordance with another embodiment, the gate driver circuitryincludes a gate driver coupled to one of the gate lines in each row andat least one of the gate drivers in the first area has a differentstrength than at least one of the gate drivers in the second area.

In accordance with another embodiment, the display driver circuitry isconfigured to provide gate line signals on the gate lines of the rows inthe first and second areas that have different slew rates.

In accordance with an embodiment, an organic light-emitting diodedisplay is provided that includes a substrate with a notch, thesubstrate has a width, organic-light-emitting diode pixels on thesubstrate, display driver circuitry, data lines coupled to the displaydriver circuitry and coupled to the pixels, and gate lines coupled tothe display driver circuitry and coupled to the pixels, the pixels havecolumns and rows, the gate lines of the rows in a first area of thedisplay are coupled to fewer of the pixels than the gate lines of therows in the second area, the gate lines of the rows in both the firstarea and the second area span the width of the substrate, and the gatelines of the rows in the first area each have a pixel-free portion thatextends past the notch.

In accordance with another embodiment, the organic light-emitting diodedisplay includes supplemental gate line loading structures that arecoupled to a first set of gate lines in the first area to increase gateline loading on the first set of gate lines and thereby reducedifferences in gate line loading between the first set of gate lines anda second set of gate lines in the second area.

In accordance with another embodiment, the supplemental gate lineloading structures include dummy pixels.

In accordance with another embodiment, the supplemental gate lineloading structures include at least one capacitor coupled to each gateline in the first set of gate lines.

In accordance with another embodiment, the supplemental gate lineloading structures includes capacitors coupled to the first set of gatelines and at least a given one of the gate lines in the first set ofgate lines is coupled to a capacitor in a different row than the givenone of the gate lines.

The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope andspirit of the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may beimplemented individually or in any combination.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display having an active area with a notch,comprising: a substrate; organic light-emitting diode pixels on thesubstrate, wherein some of the organic light-emitting diode pixels arepositioned on a first side of the notch and some of the organiclight-emitting diode pixels are positioned on a second side of thenotch; display driver circuitry; data lines coupled to the displaydriver circuitry and the organic light-emitting diode pixels; gate linescoupled to the display driver circuitry and the organic light-emittingdiode pixels, wherein the organic light-emitting diode pixels arearranged in columns and rows, wherein the gate lines in a first area ofthe display that includes the notch are coupled to fewer of the organiclight-emitting diode pixels than the gate lines in a second area of thedisplay; and dummy pixels that are coupled to the gate lines in thefirst area.
 2. The display defined in claim 1, wherein the dummy pixelsdo not emit light.
 3. The display defined in claim 1, wherein the dummypixels do not contain emissive material for light-emitting diodes. 4.The display defined in claim 1, wherein the dummy pixels imposeprogressively decreasing amounts of loading on the gate lines of thefirst area at progressively increasing distances between the second areaand the gate lines of the first area.
 5. The display defined in claim 1,wherein a first gate line in the first area of the display is coupled toa first number of dummy pixels, wherein a second gate line in the firstarea of the display is coupled to a second number of dummy pixels, andwherein the first number is greater than the second number.
 6. Thedisplay defined in claim 5, wherein the first gate line is a firstdistance from the second area, wherein the second gate line is a seconddistance from the second area, and wherein the second distance isgreater than the first distance.
 7. The display defined in claim 1,wherein the dummy pixels do not include anodes.
 8. The display definedin claim 1, wherein the dummy pixels are positioned in the notch.
 9. Thedisplay defined in claim 8, wherein the dummy pixels are positioned onthe substrate in an inactive area of the display.
 10. The displaydefined in claim 1, wherein rows in the first area of the display areinterrupted by the notch.
 11. A display having an active area and aninactive area, comprising: a substrate with a notch, wherein the notchhas first and second opposing sides; organic light-emitting diode pixelson the substrate that form the active area, wherein some of the organiclight-emitting diode pixels are positioned on the first side of thenotch and some of the organic light-emitting diode pixels are positionedon the second side of the notch; display driver circuitry; gate linescoupled to the display driver circuitry and rows of the organiclight-emitting diode pixels; and dummy pixels that are coupled to atleast some of the gate lines and that are formed in the inactive areabetween the active area and the notch.
 12. The display defined in claim11, wherein the dummy pixels do not emit light.
 13. The display definedin claim 11, wherein the dummy pixels do not contain emissive materialfor light-emitting diodes.
 14. The display defined in claim 11, whereinthe dummy pixels do not include anodes.
 15. The display defined in claim11, wherein the dummy pixels impose loading on the gate lines of rowsinterrupted by the notch.
 16. A display having an active area and aninactive area, comprising: a substrate with a notch, wherein the notchhas first and second opposing sides connected by a third side; organiclight-emitting diode pixels on the substrate that form the active area,wherein some of the organic light-emitting diode pixels are positionedon the first side of the notch and some of the organic light-emittingdiode pixels are positioned on the second side of the notch; displaydriver circuitry; data lines coupled to the display driver circuitry andthe organic light-emitting diode pixels; and gate lines coupled to thedisplay driver circuitry and the organic light-emitting diode pixels,wherein the organic light-emitting diode pixels are arranged in columnsand rows, wherein the gate lines in a first area of the display thatincludes the notch are coupled to fewer of the organic light-emittingdiode pixels than the gate lines in a second area of the display, andwherein the gate lines in the first area include a gate line thatextends in the inactive area between the notch and the active area fromthe first side of the notch to the second side of the notch.
 17. Thedisplay defined in claim 16, wherein the gate line extends parallel tothe third side of the notch in the inactive area between the notch andthe active area from the first side of the notch to the second side ofthe notch.
 18. The display defined in claim 16, wherein the gate line isone of multiple gate lines in the first area that extends in theinactive area between the notch and the active area from the first sideof the notch to the second side of the notch.
 19. The display defined inclaim 16, wherein the gate line in the first area of the display iscoupled to only one gate driver.
 20. The display defined in claim 19,wherein an additional gate line in the second area of the display iscoupled to first and second gate drivers.